Career vs Job

Diffen › Recruitment

A person usually holds several jobs in their career. It is usually easier to change jobs in the same field of work that define ones career. However, switching careers is more difficult and may require the person to start at the bottom of the ladder in the new career.

Comparison chart

Career versus Job comparison chart
	Career	Job
What is it?	A career is the pursuit of a lifelong ambition or the general course of progression towards lifelong goals.	Job is an activity through which an individual can earn money. It is a regular activity in exchange of payment.
Requirements	Usually requires special learning that includes individualized components that develop abilities beyond that which training is capable of.	Education or Special training may or may not be required
Risk taking	A career may not mean stability of work as it encourages one to take risks. The risks are often internal and therefore planned.	A job is “safe”, as stability of work and income is there. However shifting priorities, especially in resource jobs, can abruptly change the demand and require relocation which is an unstable factor. Risks may be completely external.
Time	Long term	Short term
Income	Varies depending on value to society or to some other entity. Non-monetary benefits may be higher. Salary is more common.	Varies by demand. More likely to be wage.
Contribution to society	May have high value as social change/progress may be possible.	May actually have a negative impact when counterproductive social practices are continued in the name of protecting jobs.

Definitions of Job and Career

“Job” is defined as

a piece of work, esp. a specific task done as part of the routine of one's occupation or for an agreed price.
a post of employment; full-time or part-time position.
anything a person is expected or obliged to do; duty; responsibility. It usually is considered to pertain to remunerative work (and sometimes also formal education).

A job is defined as anything a person is expected or obliged to do; a piece of work, especially a specific activity done as part of the routine of one's occupation or for an agreed price. Through a job a person can earn to support her basic needs and family or friends. A job can also be viewed as a contract between the employer and the employee. In commercial enterprises, the basic purpose of a job is to create profits for the employer, and the employee contributes labor to the enterprise, in return for payment of wages, or stock options etc.

"Career" is defined as

an occupation or profession, esp. one requiring special training, followed as one's lifework.
a person's progress or general course of action through life or through a phase of life, as in some profession or undertaking

How to Turn a Job Into a Career

In the video below, Fanta Selman of the job search site Monster.ca explains how to turn a beloved job into a long-term career.

Example of Career vs. Job

In Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead, the main protagonist, Howard Roark, seeks a career. Meanwhile, his best friend, Peter Keating, is only looking for a job. This is why by the end Roark has built some of the finest buildings using his skills, experience, and imagination, while Peter Keating has worked only on old architecture. Keating has worked only to support his basic needs.

History of Professional Employment

In the earlier era, before modernism, many workers took up a single lifelong position (a place or role) in the workforce, and the concept of an evolving career had little or no meaning. But with the increasing use of technology and the Internet, this mindset has changed. By the late 20th century, choices of different streams of education allowed planning a career from a very early stage in life.

Time Horizon of a Job vs. Career

“Career” by definition refers to a string of work performed over the long term , whereas a job is for short term. One may take up a job to fulfill his daily needs but it may not be the course of action he wants for his life. So a job is short term.

Multiple Careers and Jobs

The growing trend in employment and work is that of having multiple careers. This comes about when a worker has two or more careers at the same time, or switches careers by changing jobs or engaging in different projects. The reasons for this trend of multiple careers vary from a general decline in jobs that promise "30 years and a pension", to a search for economic progress. Moreover, expanded educational options (including online education) allow many to place greater focus on personal satisfaction, so people are more likely to change careers to pursue their interests or seek fulfillment than in times past.

Multiple jobs, another rising trend, has underpinnings of economic necessity, as full-time jobs decline and wage structures do not offer sufficient income. However, many companies frown on this practice and prohibit their full-time employees from having other simultaneous jobs. The multiple jobs trend is visible in that many individuals will work for one organization for a few years, then change to another job in the same industry, or a different one. They may do this to seek greater job satisfaction, to earn a higher salary, or to enhance future job prospects for a better position.